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Lebanese Lentil Salad with Garlic, Cumin, Mint, and Parsley

I love lentils, and this Lebanese Lentil Salad with Garlic, Cumin, Mint, and Parsley has some of my favorite flavors! And this tasty lentil salad is vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, and could be South Beach Diet friendly with portion control!

The recipe was adapted from Garlicky Lebanese Lentil Salad in Saveur October 2010, but after I made their version the first time, I changed the proportions a bit for a result with less oil and more lemon to fit my lemon-loving tastebuds.

I used green lentils for this, but if you only have brown lentils I think they would also work well. Rinse the lentils and cook them in 3 cups water for 25-30 minutes, or until lentils are tender. (Brown lentils will cook a bit more quickly.)

My garlic cloves were fairly large so I used 10 cloves to make this much very finely minced garlic. (Mince the garlic as finely as possible for this; if it's not finely minced enough the garlic flavor will be too strong.)

Heat 2 T olive oil and saute the garlic at very low heat for about 7-8 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant but barely starting to get some color. While garlic is cooking, finely chop the mint and parsley.

When the lentils are done, drain them well and return to the pan.

Whisk together the lemon juice, other 2 T olive oil, ground cumin, and ground allspice. (I did hear from a reader who found this salad to be too lemony, so if you're not a big lemon fan you might want to reduce the amount of lemon juice slightly.)

Add the lemon juice mixture to the sauteed garlic and heat for about 1 minute.

Pour the warm dressing over the lentils and stir to gently combine so all the lentils are coated with the dressing mixture.

Stir in the chopped mint and parsley and season the salad well with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Ingredients:
1 C green lentils (or use brown lentils, which will cook a bit more quickly)
2 T + 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
10-12 cloves garlic, very finely minced (use more or less to taste and depending on the size of the garlic cloves)
finely chopped fresh mint
finely chopped fresh parsley
(use about 1/2 to 1 cup fresh herbs, depending on availability and how much you like fresh herbs)
4 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (or slightly less if you're not a big lemon an like I am)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Rinse lentils and pick out broken ones or any small stones. Put lentils in small pan with 3 cups water, bring to a boil, then simmer gently until lentils are tender, about 25-30 minutes. (Actual cooking time will depend on the freshness of the lentils. Older lentils will take longer to cook.)

While lentils cook, very finely minced 10-12 fresh garlic cloves. Heat 2 T olive oil in small frying pan, add garlic, and saute over very low heat until garlic is very fragrant but barely starting to get some color, about 7-8 minutes. Turn off heat.

When lentils are tender, drain well and return to the pan. Turn heat back on under pan with the garlic, add lemon juice dressing mixture and heat about 1 minute. Pour heated dressing over the lentils, then gently stir to combine so all the lentils are well-coated with the dressing.

Stir in fresh herbs, then season the salad well with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This salad will keep in the fridge for a day or two, but leftovers will taste best if you let them come to room temperature. You may want to add some fresh squeezed lemon juice to brighten the flavor when you eat it.

Salads made with dried beans or lentils are a great low-glycemic choice for any phase of the South Beach Diet. However, for phase one, portions should be limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried beans. Since this salad is mostly lentils, keep that in mind and make serving sizes small. Lentils are not low in carbs, but they're high in fiber making them a relatively carb-conscious choice.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Tasty Recipes with Lentils:
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Kalyn, I recently discovered your site. Thanks so much for all the recipes. I'm anxious to try this one, but wanted you to know the link to the printer-friendly version of the recipe doesn't work as it should. Karen

This is great . I do have these herbs in my garden and will be trying very soon . We make a similar looking salad ( with different dressing ) with black chickpeas and with lentils i think it will be great...

This looks so gorgeous, I have people for dinner on Friday and am doing a mezze, will definitely be doing this salad as part of it now. I found you on Vegolicious & really like all your recipes, I'm on there too. Will put you on my blogroll, thanks for the inspiration!

Kalyn, this was absolutely amazing - very tasty, quick and easy, healthy and cheap. I ate it as a main dish and it did not leave me wanting for anything more. I will definitely make this recipe again in the next few weeks.

just had this tonight and was a hit! so yummy. i made with your recipe for sliced cauliflower and olive dressing. delish. we ate as main dish but next time will serve with a nice meat or fish. it will be made again and again. thanks for another winner...

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